Life after Dante: Can the Patriots protect Tom Brady without their guiding light?

Entering his 10th season and at the age of 32, there are no longer many firsts in the NFL life of Logan Mankins. This Patriots training camp will provide one, however. This NFL training camp will mark the first that Mankins, who broke in to the league as a first-round draft pick out of Fresno State in 2005, won't be performing under the watchful eye of offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia.

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By Glen Farley

southcoasttoday.com

By Glen Farley

Posted Jul. 22, 2014 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 22, 2014 at 12:14 AM

By Glen Farley

Posted Jul. 22, 2014 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 22, 2014 at 12:14 AM

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Entering his 10th season and at the age of 32, there are no longer many firsts in the NFL life of Logan Mankins.

This Patriots training camp will provide one, however.

This NFL training camp will mark the first that Mankins, who broke in to the league as a first-round draft pick out of Fresno State in 2005, won't be performing under the watchful eye of offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia.

"It's going to be a big change," the six-time Pro Bowl left guard acknowledged back in the spring. "I was lucky enough to have him for nine seasons. I wish that could have continued, but he put in his time and earned the right to retire."

After 32 seasons, 30 of them with the Patriots, Scarnecchia has moved on.

Dave DeGuglielmo, who was most recently with the New York Jets in 2012, has moved in.

This, of course, marks a major change on the sidelines for members of the Patriots offensive line; every offensive lineman who's passed through Foxboro dating back to 1999 has played for Scarnecchia, who moved from special teams coach to offensive line coach during the last year of the dreaded Pete Carroll era.

But to hear Michael Hoomanawanui talk, for the Patriots' offensive linemen it's a case of "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."

Hoomanawanui, who as a tight end spends time working with DeGuglielmo in practice, describes the new guy as "very in-your-face" and "very loud."

Which, yes, sounds very much like the old guy; in some ways then, DeGuglielmo may be Dante Part Deux.

It should be noted that Hoomanawanui was quick to add that he believes DeGuglielmo's approach is "good" and said "I think he's going to get the best out of his players as well."

Scarnecchia's absence may not be the only major change the Patriots' offensive line experiences this year.

The offensive line that started each of the past two regular seasons returns intact at the start of training camp, but that's subject to change. The fact that the team invested three draft picks in May in the big fellas up front may have signaled that times, they are a changin.'

For now, Ryan Wendell (re-signed as a free agent during the offseason) is the man in the middle, flanked by Mankins and Dan Connolly at the guards with Nate Solder and Sebastian Vollmer manning the two tackle positions.

With the exception of Vollmer, who went down with a broken right leg at the season's midpoint (Marcus Cannon and Will Svitek filled the void), that line enjoyed good health in 2013 — Wendell, Mankins and Connolly starting all 18 of the team's games (16 regular season, two postseason) and Solder missing just one. But while enjoying generally good health, the line played to mixed reviews.

On the one hand, it paved the way for a running game that ranked ninth in the league averaging 129.1 yards per game; on the other hand, it surrendered 40 sacks of Tom Brady, who threw 628 passes (compared to 27 sacks the previous season when the quarterback threw 637 times).

One in a line of players who were here last year and could contribute in expanded roles this season (the group includes Chris Barker and Braxston Cave), Kline could very well unseat Connolly, a move that would represents a salary cap savings of $3 million if the latter were released. The fact that he has the versatility to fill in at center works in Connolly's favor, however.

Stork's progress (or lack of it) in his first camp may go a long ways toward deciding if Wendell (who lacks the versatility of Connolly), signed to a two-year contract worth more than $4 million during the offseason, sees the money the Patriots have shown him.

With Svitek gone, Fleming projects as a potential swing tackle, while Halapio could factor in the mix with Connolly and Kline at right guard.